［Christensen］ As you have already mentioned, similar work was submitted by the same artist at the previous exhibition and it was selected as a prize winning piece. The artist has been recognized in Europe. Estonia is in North Europe facing the Baltic Sea. Estonia was under the Soviet Union’s rule for a long time. The people in Estonia had a hard time. Especially in the field of art, they couldn’t get information. Since Estonia became independent, many artists have enthusiasm to express themselves through artistic activities. Geographically Estonia is close to Finland. The population of Estonia is about two million. It’s a small country. Kristiina applied for this exhibition held in Kanazawa from Estonia far away from Japan. We see her work and get to know the trend in Estonia. This is part of the results of the exhibition.

［Takeda］ Next, we would like Professor Carlson to make comments on “Layers of Light-Moon-#6” by Yukako Kojima from Japan.

［Carlson］ This piece certainly is familiar in its process with the Gold Prize piece we have talked about earlier. It is of the same method. This piece has different information. This is about classicism of a circle. The discipline of the design and the discipline of repetitive layers and a kind of abstract reference that we have. Yes, this piece is a bowl technically, but it is much more than that. It is a kind of the world of movement and most disciplined process and the most disciplined method of working with glass.

［Takeda］ Next, we would like Professor Yokoyama to make comments on “VASE” by Tomas Hlavicka from Czech Republic.

［Yokoyama］ This piece is so decent and so perfectly completed that one could even say that the work is tasteless. This point makes the piece conspicuous among others. The good point of this piece is its refined design. He uses strips of gold leaf like portiere. The black part in the middle is a flower vase. The color black makes the whole work sharp. I have an impression that this piece represents Kanazawa, the combination of Urushi lacquer and gold leaf. There is something Japanesy although the piece is created by the artist from Czech Republic.

［Takeda］ Next, we would like Professor Christensen to make comments on “Plant of Omonma Village = 2010-01” by Nobuyuki Fujiwara from Japan.

［Christensen］ Mr Fujiwara, the artist of this glass, as far as I remember of another exhibitions, he nearly always gives his impression on nature surrounding him into all his works. He calls almost all his work “The Plant of Omonma Village.” He lives in a small village Omonma. It seems that he gets inspiration from small things in nature of this village. This piece is rather heavy and complicated with a lot of beautiful details of engraving. This piece stands on something like wooden boards. It’s a heavy glass work in a heavy color, which is also a very specific thing for him. His works have also fascinated me before, but this piece here is more excellent. He is a very unique artist, but there has been a tendency. When you meet an artist who always uses this specific policy in his work, you have to see his works again and again before you realize that there is something interesting in his works and he is really in the master class.

［Takeda］ Next, we would like Professor Carlson to make comments on “a street” by Sayo Fujita from Japan.

［Carlson］ With this piece the jury had a discussion and we weren’t quite sure about what the image was. But I think we were quite captivated by this mystery. And it’s a kind of reference to almost the artifact of architecture. The material is glass. We know that. But it has been translated in a much broader sense into interpretation that glass has become stone. The devitrification, opacity and translucency of the piece give us really quite a kind of romance of the material. And again it’s romance as I try or imagine the source of the form and its information for us.

［Takeda］ This is quite a big piece, one-meter long. We would like again Professor Carlson to make comments on “TENSEI” by Masahiro Sasaki from Japan.

［Carlson］ This piece is also very similar to an artifact. It is a piece that it’s been eroded with process of sandblast. But the sandblasting is really a process of time. As the environment where we honor the materials that are translated and changed, we love that patina of time. This piece represents its area that it’s accelerated fashion. We understand from looking and examining the piece that it is blown. But it’s translation into this remnant of the blown piece. It’s a kind of exciting way of looking it the reductive process that we use for glass as we remove the material and refined form as the best represents of our concepts.